I am cautious about a lot of things;

Number one is water or more correctly standing on a stone fish, getting eaten by a shark or anything that brushes my foot in ankle deep water.

Number two food that repeats for hours like red onion, beer, capsicum and Fray Bentos pies

Number three tea breath, that is the smell of tea on your breath… its horrible

Number four chickens, well most birds but especially chickens which is why I only try to pick them up at night when they are asleep.

Number five visible panty lines and foundation chin lines, I have laughed at to many people with vpl and badly blended foundation, I know not behaviour that is supportive of the sisterhood I am trying to do better.

Number six people wearing masks, it is freaky seeing people eyes and nothing else.

Number five is the dark or more correctly things in the dark.  By things I mean vampires, zombies, satan, weird men anything that surprises me really.

So when I came to Antarctica I knew I had to face a few fears, first was food that repeats on you.  It was a beautiful sunny morning in the shack hut up on the plateau and I was offered a Fray Bentos pie for breakfast.  Those pies in a can, with puff pastry tops and indeterminate pieces of meat floating in lots of light brown gravy…. I mean it sounds good.  Most of the men in the freezer are having a love affair with Fray Bentos pies, they eat them for breakfast, in fact I think they go camping just so they can eat them!!!!  It had been a few years, probably 20 to be exact and I had sort of fond memories so I joined in and had one, OMG it was KFC good.  It was not so good 6 hours later it was so horrible that it will be another 20 years before I eat on again and I am still afraid of food that wants to overshare.

I don’t have to worry about chickens, visible panty lines or unblended foundation but masks are an issue.  Balaclavas are the high of fashion down here, they come in all shapes and sizes.  Some guys have made there own out of thermal underwear with holes so they look like bank robbers.  Some guys have fitted ones that make them look like the gimp out of pulp fiction.  Other wear the shop bought variety that are slightly less scary but the one size fits all face hole means they don’t really fit any-one.  It is scary when you see some-one with no face, you can’t tell if they are in a good mood or not or if they are about to kill you!!!!  Not that I rationally think that any-one down here is going to kill me, but a stranger could theoretically travel the 800kms across glaciers and crevasse fields and slip on station without anyone knowing.  Fortunately exposure therapy is helping and I am getting used to the masks, except the gimp one that is just to weird for me.

My biggest fear to face is the dark, I have always been afraid of the dark.  Even now as an adult I leave a light on in the house at night.  I don’t like not being able to see.  I am feeling pretty under control here tho, there is really nothing to be scared of during the day or night.  Then the guys watched ‘the thing’ that horror movie and I kept wondering what if it is a true story and remember before you laugh that the Stargate was found in Antarctica as well… Anyway yesterday I forgot my fear of the dark and went to my office early.  Head torch on, some blowing snow limiting my visibility and then I heard it half way between the living quarters and the office a horrible deep moaning… it went on and one and then finished in a shriek.  OMG, I was off running across the ice.  It would have looked hilarious from the living quarters, if any-one was watching they would have thought I had gone mad.  The ice is treacherous just walking, but i ran little head light bobbing all the way to my office and then realised that they horrible monster was the wind blowing over the conduit………

I am still afraid of the dark, but I have a few months to work on it since we are losing 15 minutes a day of light!!!!